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In extracorporeal life support (ECLS), blood is removed from a subject's circulatory system and channeled through an ECLS system wherein the blood becomes oxygenated and carbon dioxide is removed. The oxygenated blood is then delivered back into the subject's circulatory system. Most ECLS systems include pumps which propel or circulate the blood through the subject's vasculature thereby assuming the function of both the heart and lungs, even if the subject's heart is stopped or beating inefficiently. Other ECLS systems (e.g., the Novalung System, Novalung GmbH, Heilbronn, Germany) provide pumpless extracorporeal lung assist by oxygenating and removing carbon dioxide from the blood while relying on the subject's beating heart to adequately circulate the blood through the device and through the subject's vasculature.
In general, ECLS techniques include extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) as well as cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). ECMO is essentially a form of partial CPB. ECMO is typically used for extended periods of time (e.g., days) while CPB is used for relatively short periods (e.g., hours). CPB has traditionally been used during cardiac and aortic surgical procedures wherein the heart is stopped. Generally, in ECMO vascular access is achieved by inserting cannulas into peripheral blood vessels using percutaneous technique or superficial surgical cut and then advancing the cannulas to locations in the central vasculature (e.g., vena cava, right atrium, aorta). In CPB vascular access is typically accomplished by intraoperative connection of cannulas to intrathoracic blood vessels.
ECMO can be performed either as venoarterial ECMO (VA-ECMO) or venovenous ECMO (VV-ECMO). In VA-ECMO, deoxygenated blood is removed from a vein and the oxygenated blood is returned into an artery. In VA-ECMO the system typically pumps the blood under pressure to partially support the subject's cardiac output while W-ECMO generally provides extracorporeal lung assist but does not support cardiac function.
In the past, ECLS systems were typically available only at major medical centers where specialized personnel (e.g., cardiothoracic surgeons and/or perfusionists) could be called upon to set up and operate the ECLS systems. Patients in the field, or those who presented at smaller hospital emergency departments, after suffering severe cardiac events or lung injuries would typically have to undergo (and survive) transport by vehicle (e.g., ground ambulance, helicopter, etc.) to a major medical center before having any possibility of ECLS treatment.
In recent years, efforts have been made to develop small, automated, simplified, portable ECLS systems that could be used to deliver ECLS treatment to patients at smaller hospitals and during transport, without the need for specialized personnel. Examples of such devices include those described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,367,540; 7,597,546; 7,682,327; 7,846,122; 8,529,488; 8,529,488; 8,187,214; 8,568,347; 8,951,220; 8,834,399; 8,882,693; 8,721,579 and 8,844,336 as well as United States Patent Application Publication Nos. US2014/0142491; US2014/0326678 US2015/0056601; US2015/0141897; US2015/0073335 and US2015/0082863, the entire disclosure of each such patent and patent application being expressly incorporated herein by reference.